Immigration Detention: Public Radio Interviews LIRS Director for Advocacy on Release of Detainees

I was happy to hear the head of our advocacy team, Brittney Nystrom, interviewed on the Nuestra América program of Santa Fe’s KSFR public radio.

The conversation focused on recent immigration detention hearings in Congress and the release of 2,200 detained migrants. You can listen to the 13min podcast from March 21 by clicking here.

Coming against a backdrop of congressional hearings, questions about the “overuse” of detention, and media interest in private-sector profits on detention, the interview included thoughtful inquiries from hosts Marcela Diaz and Elsa Lopez of Somos un Pueblo Unido.

Some of the important points our advocacy leader was able to raise:

The release of these detainees was simply Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) doing its job.

The real question, and the one most media outlets missed, is: “Why are these people in detention in the first place?”

The immigration detention system, with its mandatory quota of “beds” to fill, is “a creature of Congress” that lawmakers can still fix.

Many thanks to KSFR, Nuestra América, and the hosts for creating a public space to raise these important questions about how our country treats immigrants and refugees!